The business world in Indonesia is not only controlled by men. There are a number of successful businesswomen running businesses in various fields, from cosmetics, fashion, technology, to the creative sector.
These women succeeded in managing the business by fighting the prevailing stereotypes. In fact, thanks to their expertise, their name has been taken into account in the international world.
Who are these great businesswomen? The following is their profile.
The name Martha Tilaar seems to be an icon of successful businesswomen in Indonesia. The figure, who is now 85 years old, first started his business from a small salon in his father's garage in 1970. At that time he intensively promoted by going from one house to another. Her business received a positive response so she opened her second salon. It was there that Martha began to introduce traditional beauty treatments made from herbal plants which were the result of her exploration of Indonesia's natural wealth.
Her business continued to grow until in 1983 Martha succeeded in establishing PT Sari Ayu Indonesia. Sariayu products are slowly starting to become known to the public and dominate the Indonesian cosmetics market. Not only that, Sariayu products have also been exported to several countries, such as Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Mauritius, and several countries in East Africa.
Martha's achievements and contributions then resulted in her being named SDG Pioneers in 2018 for Advancing Sustainability Through Community Engagement from the United Nation Global Compact. Through her journey, Martha said that if encouraged and given the opportunity to continue working, women would be able to progress and be successful just like men.
Next is a businessman who is involved in the technology sector. She is Catherin Hindra Sutjahyo, a woman born in Surabaya in 1983 who successfully founded Zalora Indonesia. He founded this beauty and fashion product marketplace in 2010 with his partner. At that time he saw that Indonesia was a potential market for the e-commerce industry. It didn't take long for Zalora to develop into one of the most visited marketplaces with millions of visitors per month.
Catherine's journey into the technology business in Indonesia did not stop at Zalora. In 2016 he was trusted to become CEO of Alfacart (Alfamart). There, Catherine immediately carried out rebranding by implementing an online to offline (O2O) strategy. After making quite an impact on Alfamart, the Nanyang Technological University graduate joined Gojek at the end of 2017 as chief commercial expansion (CCE). He was then given responsibility for managing the food ordering service, Go Food, by becoming Chief Food Officer at Gojek.
Catherine said, the presence of women in the world of technology, especially in leadership positions, has been able to provide its own color. He believes that “self pity doesn't help. Play your strength!" From there she wanted to show her strength as a woman.
The next great female businesswoman is Aulia Halimatussadiah. He is the founder of a self-publishing start-up called Nulisbuku.com. Even though she has an educational background in the IT field, the figure who is familiarly called Lia has had a great love for the world of writing since childhood. To date, he has published more than 30 books.
Before developing Nulisbuku.com, the woman from Yogyakarta in 2006 developed the website sepakkutubuku.com, which is an online bookstore. The bookstore has been well received by internet users in Indonesia. From there, Lia decided to quit her job and focus on developing her business.
Then, in 2010 Lia and three colleagues founded Nulisbuku.com. Through this platform he wants to bridge the difficulties experienced by writers when publishing their work. Nulisbuku.com provides a simple system so that writers can easily publish articles.
Apart from that, Lia is also active by being the founder and co-managing of Girls In Tech Indonesia. This is a global non-profit organization in Indonesia which aims to encourage women to master the field of technology. From there, Lia wants to break the stigma that technology only belongs to men, but women can also run businesses with the help of technology, while still getting manicures and pedicures.
From Gudeg City, Yogyakarta, there is the figure of Fransisca Puspitasari who has succeeded in developing her ceramics business to the point of penetrating the international market. The journey of the woman who is familiarly called Kika began when she became bored with the work she had been doing for 20 years. In 2016, he decided to leave and build a ceramics business called Kaloka Pottery.
However, at that time he did not immediately have a studio because the construction costs were quite high. Kika had time to stay at a friend's studio. From there, the graduate of the Indonesian Institute of Arts began offering his products from his network. Until one day Kika was determined to make his own studio in an alley in Yogyakarta. Kika also made changes to market its products via Instagram which apparently made its products start to go global.
At that time, suddenly there was an order for 2,000 ceramics from Qatar. Even though he was almost overwhelmed, Kika managed to complete the order with his small team. Orders from various countries are slowly starting to arrive, such as from the United States, Europe, Australia and other countries in the Middle East. Kaloka Pottery products are in great demand because they present unique designs with distinctive colors.
From this business, Kika apparently does not only seek profit. The mother of two children wants to bring benefits to others. One of them, Kaloka Pottery regularly shares with orphanages and several foundations, such as the Alzheimer's Foundation.
The next great female businesswoman is Diajeng Lestari, founder of the Muslim fashion e-commerce Hijup. This figure, who is familiarly called Ajeng, started his business from the experience of having difficulty getting contemporary Muslim clothing. Even though several Muslim clothing brands have emerged, they are not yet well systemized. This then encouraged the University of Indonesia alumni to create a platform for Muslim designers.
Hijup, which was founded in 2011, was initially operated by only two people. They are Ajeng who doubles as director and office girl, and her husband who is the founder of Bukalapak, Achmad Zaky who manages the IT department. Even so, Hijup is slowly succeeding in collaborating with various domestic designers and marketing its products both locally and globally.
Hijup's interesting work then succeeded in attracting the eyes of investors. They get investment to encourage Hijup's progress. To date, this e-commerce has succeeded in sending several collections to 50 countries.
So, isn't the progress of great businesswomen in Indonesia interesting? They have proven that women can also reach the highest points in a business field and spread the benefits of what they develop. So, how inspired are you by their story?